What led to the Bucks decision to waive Damian Lillard?
Bucks reporter Jim Owczarski discusses what led to the Bucks decision to waive Damian Lillard, enabling them to sign Myles Turner.
Damian Lillard was an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NBA career after getting waived and having his contract stretched by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 35-year-old Lillard has chosen his next stop … and it is his previous one.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on July 17 that Lillard is returning to the Portland Trail Blazers on a three-year deal worth $42 million.
Lillard played for the Trail Blazers for his first 11 seasons before a shocking trade to the Bucks on the eve of training camp before the 2023-24 season.
Interestingly, the trade teams up Lillard with Jrue Holiday, who was the big piece the Bucks gave up in the deal to land Lillard. The Boston Celtics traded Holiday to Portland earlier this summer.
Lillard’s two seasons with the Bucks were disjointed, with untimely injuries hurting the team in the playoffs. Lillard tore his Achilles in Game 5 of Milwaukee’s first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers.
The Bucks then decided to waive Lillard the point guard and stretch the remaining $113 million on his deal over the next five seasons. That allowed Milwaukee to land free-agent center Myles Turner.
He will miss most of next season rehabbing the injury. Lillard has been doing most of that work in Portland in order to spend more time around his children. Being away from his family is another reason Lillard cited about how hard it was to adjust to being in Milwaukee.
Lillard will have a 2025-26 set salary of $70M between his Portland and Milwaukee deals, according to Charania.